1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a packaging apparatus for rolled products and a package for a rolled product, and more particularly to a packaging apparatus for packaging, with a light shielding sheet, a belt-shaped sensitized material rolled product such as photographic printing paper and photographic film or the like which have been wound in a roll shape, and a package.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 5-112337 discloses a package of a rolled product capable of opening a sealed package by drawing out a leading end of a light shielding sheet with which the circumferential surface of a belt-shaped sensitized material rolled product has been packaged.
In this package, as shown in FIGS. 19 and 20, a roll product 1 of photosensitive material or the like is wound around a cylindrical core 2 having the substantially same width as the roll product 1; and to a leading end 1A of the roll product 1, one end 3A of circumferential surface wrapping material 3 having the same width as or slightly larger width than the roll product 1 is joined such that edge portions 1B of the roll product 1 substantially coincide with edge portions 3B of the circumferential surface wrapping material 3. On the inner sides of both side edges of the circumferential surface wrapping material 3, end surface wrapping materials 4 are superimposed and heat bonded. Thus, border lines C of the heat bonded portion between the circumferential surface wrapping material 3 and the end surface wrapping materials 4 substantially coincide with the side edges 1B of the roll product 1, and serve as reinforcement portions when opening.
The circumferential surface wrapping material 3 is wound around the roll product 1, and its leading end 1C is bonded to the roll product 1 with a terminal tape 5. Also, cylindrical portions of the end surface wrapping material 4 protruding from the end surfaces of the roll product 1 are gather-folded along the end surfaces of the roll product 1 by a gather-folding apparatus (not shown), and inner side portions 6 of the gather-folded portions are fit into the core 2 with bushings 7 by pressing the bushings 7 into the core 2. Thus, the light shielding property and the moisture resistance of the roll product 1 are retained.
As the gather-folding apparatus, there have conventionally been proposed various apparatuses, and of those, apparatuses which have been disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 55-3212 and Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 2-1202 have a plurality of folding members which move from the outside of the cylindrical portions toward the roll central axis. These folding members are moved in the above-described direction to fold the cylindrical portions inside, whereby pleats of the wrapping material are formed between the folding members, and these pleats are folded onto the roll end surfaces to thereby gather-fold the cylindrical portions.
Since, however, the above-described conventional gather-folding apparatuses are constructed to forms the pleats only through the use of the folding member, there is the problem that the fold angle becomes non-uniform resulting from the stiffness, habit and the like of the wrapping material so that ridges of crest folded portions of the pleats do not have any equal length. Although a package of sensitized material is caused to retain the light shielding property and the moisture resistance by fitting the inner side portions of the gather-folded portions into the core with the bushings, and when the length of the ridges of the crest folded portions is non-uniform as described above, there may be pleats which cannot be fitted, that is, there may exist pleats of which the length of the ridges is short, and therefore, there is the drawback that the light shielding property and the moisture resistance are impaired.
Hence, as a gather-folding apparatus which prevents such a drawback, there is a gather-folding apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 62-58966. This gather-folding apparatus comprises: a plurality of pressing plates which move toward the roll central axis on the outside of the cylindrical portions of a light shielding sheet protruding outwardly from the end surfaces of the roll; a plurality of pleat formation rods which support the cylindrical portions from the inside toward the outside; and a moving mechanism which synchronizes these pleat formation rods to the movement of the pressing plates to move in the direction of the roll central axis. According to this gather-folding apparatus, when folding out the cylindrical portions inwardly by the movement of the pressing plates, the cylindrical portions are supported from inside by the plurality of pleat formation rods. Thus, there can be formed angle pleated portions comprising trough folded portions folded inwardly by the pressing plates and crest folded portions stretched outwardly by the pleat formation rods.
Also, a gather-folding apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-88572 comprises: a plurality of moving pieces which move toward the roll central axis on the outer side of the cylindrical portions of the light shielding sheet protruding outwardly from the roll end surfaces; a plurality of support spokes which support the cylindrical portion from the inner side toward the outside; and an opening/closing mechanism for opening/closing the support spokes like an umbrella. According to this gather-folding apparatus, when folding out the cylindrical portion inside by the movement of the moving pieces, the cylindrical portions are supported from inside by means of the support spokes which have been opened like an umbrella. Thus, there can be formed angle pleated portions comprising trough folded portions folded inwardly by the moving pieces and crest folded portions stretched outwardly by the support spokes.
Since, however, the gather-folding apparatuses disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 62-58966 and 6-88572 are constructed such that the inner surface of the cylindrical portions are supported by the pleat formation rods or the support spokes in point-contact, in the case of soft wrapping material, there is a drawback that the angle pleated portions cannot be formed with stability because the wrapping material is broken or is turned up.
Since the light shielding sheet for wrapping a sensitized material roll product is a wrapping material having the light shielding property and the moisture resistance, it is expensive. Therefore, the roll product is preferably packaged at a minimum surface area.
However, in order to provide the roll product with the light shielding property and the moisture resistance, the portions to be fitted into the core with the bushings are required for the light shielding sheet as described above. For this reason, in the conventional package, emphasis has been placed on the light shielding property and the moisture resistance, and concerning the provision of the light shielding property and the moisture resistance by making the area of the light shielding sheet as small as possible, no contrivance has been performed.
Also, in the conventional package of a roll product, since the trough portions of the gather-folded angle pleated portion are directed toward the roll center and the ridges of the crest portions are not directed toward the roll center, the length of the light shielding sheet has been uselessly long.
The present invention has been achieved in views of the above-described state of affairs, and is aimed to provide a packaging apparatus for a roll product having a gather-folding apparatus capable of forming an angle pleated portion with stability, and a package of a roll product capable of making the area of the sheet as small as possible to provide the light shielding property and the moisture resistance.
In order to attain the above-described object, the present invention is directed to a packaging apparatus for a roll product which covers an outer peripheral surface of a roll made of a belt-shaped material wound around a core in a roll shape with a sheet having larger width than a width of the roll to gather-fold a cylindrical portion of the sheet protruding outwardly from an end surface of the roll by a gather-folding apparatus along the roll end surface, wherein the gather-folding apparatus comprises: a plurality of plate-shaped folding members which are arranged along a circumferential surface of the roll and are movably arranged between a retracted position retracted from the cylindrical portion of the sheet and a folded position where the cylindrical portion is folded in a plane-contact state toward the roll end surface; a plurality of bar-shaped inter support members which are arranged along the circumferential surface of the roll at positions corresponding to openings between the plurality of plate-shaped folding members, and which are movably arranged between a retracted position retracted from the cylindrical portion of the sheet and a supporting position where the cylindrical portion is supported in a line-contact state from inside; and a rotation device by which the roll or the plurality of plate-shaped folding members are rotated with a central axis of the roll being centered, and after the plurality of inter support members are positioned from the retracted position to the supporting position, the plurality of plate-shaped folding members are positioned from the retracted position to the fold position, whereby a plurality of angle pleated portions to which tension has been given by inter support members and the plate-shaped folding members are formed at the cylindrical portion of the sheet, thereafter, the plurality of inter support members are positioned at the retracted position, and the roll or the plurality of plate-shaped folding members are rotated by the rotation device to fold the angle pleated portions on the roll end surface to thereby form a gather-folded portion.
Also, in order to attain the above-described object, the present invention is directed to a package of a role product, which covers an outer peripheral surface of a roll made of a belt-shaped material wound around a cylindrical core in a roll shape with a sheet having larger width than the width of the roll to gather-fold a cylindrical portion of the sheet protruding outwardly from an end surface of the roll by a gather-folding apparatus along the roll end surface, and which a bushing member is pressed into the core to thereby fit an inner peripheral edge of a gather-folded portion by the core and the bushing member, wherein ridges of crest folded portions of a plurality of angle pleated portions which form the gather-folded portion are formed to be longer than ridges of trough folded portions; when gather-folding is performed, each of the angle pleated portions lies on top of the angle pleated portion adjacent thereto; and the ridges of the crest folded portions face a center of the roll product.
According to the gather-folding apparatus, by means of both the plate-shaped folding member which comes into plane-contact with the sheet cylindrical portion from outside, and the bar-shaped inter support member which comes into line-contact with the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion, the angle pleated portion is formed. In other words, the gather-folding apparatus according to the present invention is to form, by means of both the surface of the plate-shaped folding member and the line of the inter support member, two planes of folded planes sandwiching the line concerned. In this case, since these two planes of folded planes are formed with equal tension, the angle pleated portion comprising these two planes of folded planes can be formed with stability. A plurality of angle pleated portions are formed along the circumferential surface of the roll, and these angle pleated portions can be folded along the role end surface to thereby form the gather-folded portion.
A method of forming the gather-folded portion by the gather-folding apparatus is (1) a step of positioning a plurality of inter support members from the retracted position to the supporting position, and (2) a step of positioning a plurality of plate-shaped folding members from the retracted position to the fold position. By these two steps, a plurality of angle pleated portions to which tension has been given by the inter support members and the plate-shaped folding members can be formed at the cylindrical portion. Next, (3) a step of positioning a plurality of inter support members in the retracted position. (4) a step of bringing the wrapping material into tight contact with the roll end surface by a plurality of plate-shaped folding members to complete the projections and depressions. (5) a step of rotating the roll or the plurality of plate-shaped folding members by the rotation device to thereby fold the angle pleated portion on the roll end surface. By the above-described steps, the gather-folded portion can be formed. Accordingly, the gather-folding apparatus according to the present invention is capable of forming the gather-folded portion by five steps: (1) to (5), and therefore, the tact of the packaging apparatus is improved.
Also, the gather-folding apparatus is characterized in that the plate-shaped folding member has been formed into a rectangular triangle shape. When an angle pleated portion formed by this plate-shaped folding member is folded, ridges of crest folded portions of all the angle pleated portions face toward the roll center. More specifically, since the fold angles of all the angle pleated portions become uniform by forming the plate-shaped folding member into a rectangular triangle shape, the light shielding property and the moisture resistance is enhanced. In contrast to this, in the case where the plate-shaped folding member is formed into an isosceles triangle shape, the crest folded portion of the angle pleated portion is separated from the roll center, and therefore, a long wrapping material is required to retain the light shielding property and the moisture resistance, and the cost is increased.
Further, the gather-folding apparatus is characterized in that the inter support member is formed in an L-character shape and that the proximal end of the inter support member is rotatably supported in such a manner that the supporting portion of the inter support member can move in an oblique direction with respect to the roll end surface. Thus, only by rotating the inter support member from the supporting position to the retracted position, the inter support member can be retracted from the insertion area of the bushing member into the core. Irrespective of the operation of the inter support member, the bushing member can approach to the roll, and therefore, the insertion tact of the bushing member is improved.
In contrast to this, in the gather-folding apparatus disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-88572, since the opening/closing mechanism of the support spoke is arranged coaxially with the roll central axis, when inserting the bushing member into the core, the opening/closing mechanism obstructs the operation. Therefore, since time for causing the opening/closing mechanism to escape from the same axle is required, the insert tact of the bushing member cannot be improved.
The inter support member is characterized in that it is located midway between the rectangular triangle shaped plate-shaped folding members and rotates with some angle in order to open the core portion of the roll.
In the package of a roll product according to the present invention, since ridges of crest folded portions of a plurality of angle pleated portions which form the gather-folded portion are formed to be longer than the ridges of the trough folded portions; gathers are folded in such a manner that the angle pleated portion lies on top of the angle pleated portion adjacent thereto; and the ridges of the crest folded portions has been directed toward the center of the roll product, the area of the sheet is made as small as possible and the light shielding property and the moisture resistance can be provided.